Came for the Prince, Stayed for the Dragon
by Spongecatdog
Summary: Prince Atsushi was loved throughout the kingdom. Many swore loyalty to him on sight after only a few minutes of speaking, because they were so moved his kindness and sweet heart. All in all, Prince Atsushi was an amazing and loveable prince. Now if only he could stop getting kidnapped all the time. [Soukoku Week: FANTASY]


**A/N: Omg its been 10 years since I've wrote anything holy crap. That being said, I'm uber sorry if the story came out a lil stiff and awkward, that's just me waking up from hibernation.**

 **I also will be uploading two more days for Soukoku Week, but it will be out way late due to me being unable to really work and upload them. Still, you should totes look for them when they come out~! I'm really excited about Conflict's story!**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 **Prompt:** **Fantasy** / Curse / "We could make it reality"

* * *

Once upon a time, long ago in a faraway land, there was a kingdom ruled by a prince named Atsushi, who was beloved by many. Prince Atsushi was kind to all who met him and was known to enchant even the most irritable of people within moments of meeting him. Rumours say that even looking the Prince in the eyes would cause the beholder to go weak at the knees and feel an intense urge to help the Prince in any way possible. In fact, many people claim that men have sworn loyalty to him and followed him to the day they died after only five minutes of conversation. All in all, Atsushi was an idol of adoration for many people and had few faults.

And then there was Prince Atsushi's strange tendency of getting kidnapped at least twice a week by different captors each time.

The cause of the strange obsession with kidnapping their beloved prince was a mystery to all but much like one accepts the fact that the sun will set in west and rise in the east, the kingdom has accepted the fact that their prince will be abducted if eyes are not laid upon him for even five seconds. Of course, the fact that a facet of the King's Guard was not only dedicated to keeping peace within the kingdom but also to bring back Prince Atsushi whenever he was stolen away also helped in calming the public and causing them not to worry nearly as much for their Prince's safety.

Speaking of those in the King's Guard…

Dazai could feel his irritation growing steadily as the hot sun burned the back of his neck. Not only had this been the fifth time he had to go and rescue Prince Atsushi this week due to being the only nearby knight free to do so, but there were also rumours amongst the commoners that a dragon of all things had done it this time. Dazai attempted to wipe the growing amounts of sweat off his forehead only to let out a small noise of annoyance when the sweat-soaked bandage only made the situation worse by rubbing even more sweat across his skin. Great. Not only would he have to fight a dragon, but Dazai would also have to do it with gross bandages unless he had the chance to change them beforehand. Not for the first time since Dazai had been forcibly removed from the nice, cool innards of the castle, Dazai internally cursed Kunikida for kicking him out and demanding that Dazai should 'actually make something of himself and stop trying to seduce the maids into committing suicide with him', because apparently talking to maids and trying to find a lovely person a complete his lover's suicide wasn't a suitable pastime.

Dazai pulled on the reins of the horse, forcing it to an abrupt stop as a large shadow loomed overhead. He looked at the drawing a local townsperson had given him of the dragon's lair before looking back up at the mountain standing proudly before him. Sure enough, the townsperson was able to recreate the lair in all its glory to the point even an idiot could tell the two were the same. Dazai sighed and gracefully dismounted from the horse before tying the lead to a nearby tree. Actually… Dazai stepped back from the tree for a few minutes and appraised the amount of strength in the branches and calculated the amount of weight they could handle. They definitely looked strong enough to hold an entire human body without cracking under the pressure, but who knows if the branches were actually strong enough to remain attached to the tree if Dazai hung himself from them. Dragging himself away from the tree, Dazai made a mental note to himself to come back when he has the chance and test the tree's strength firsthand. Or at least, when their idiotic prince wasn't being kidnapped.

After about fifteen minutes of climbing the somewhat dangerous terrain and spotting at least ten more ideal places for a beautiful suicide, Dazai found himself at the mouth of the cave. Dazai tilted his head and focused on any sound coming from inside the cave. His ears perked up at the sound of faint snoring reverberating off of the walls, plan already beginning to form in his mind. Smiling widely, Dazai cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled into the cave.

"Hello~? Anyone home? Mr. Dragon? Not feasting on our lovely Prince, are you?"

Dazai leaned back on his heels and awaited the response from the other. While it wasn't the most orthodox way to go about dragging the dragon out to a more equal fighting ground, it was definitely a more amusing one if his assumptions on what would happen was correct. A loud thwack followed by even louder cursing echoed out from the cave, causing Dazai to snicker into his hand and immediately appreciate the fact he took the time to rebandage his arms as he climbed the mountain. No one wants to laugh into nasty, smelly bandages after all.

Dazai patiently waited outside the cave, leaning back on his heels as far as he could go and then coming back forward with a snap whenever he got too close to falling. Brown eyes scanned the surrounding area for nearby advantages and disadvantages that he could use if the situation turned dire as he waited for the dragon to finally arrive. By the time he heard the dragon stumble out of the mouth of the cave, Dazai had finished calculating the possibilities and already guessed at what would soon follow. All the information he needed now was just about the dragon himself.

"What the fuck do you want?"

Dazai immediately turned towards the voice, stopping when his eyes only met air. His eyebrows creased in confusion as he wondered where the source of the voice was. It had been a while since Dazai had studied dragons, but he didn't remember any of them having the power to turn invisible...unless… Dazai looked down, and brown eyes met blue.

Dazai didn't even have a chance at stopping the snort.

Of course, the sight of the dragon's eyes widening in anger as his face grew red didn't do anything to help stifle the laughter threatening to pour out of Dazai. Dazai couldn't even hope to stop his laughter now despite the fact one stomp of the other's foot caused cracks to spiderweb outwards, matching similar looking marks all over the mountain ledge. After a few seconds of forcing down the laughter, Dazai raised a hand to at least hide the smile, although it did little to deter the other's anger. The dragon snarled and pointed at Dazai.

"Why the fuck are you laughing?!"

Dazai waved the other off with a flippant smile still on his face. He shouldn't tease a dragon, he really shouldn't, but the redhead made it so easy to mess with him.

"Ah, don't worry about it, Mr. Dragon. I'm just afraid you fall a little short of my expectations. To be fair, it was a rather tall order."

Dazai barely dodged the fist aiming straight for his head, internally thanking the fact he was so used to attacks that he could spot the tell-tale tensing of muscles and pupil dilation from a mile away. Brown eyes trailed up from the fist clenched to the right of his head to its owner. Thin pupiled, blue eyes glared up at him, anger only making them brighter and more intense. Maybe Dazai had gone too far with the jokes?

Nah.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Dragon. Do I need to get you stepping stool so you can properly punch me in the face?"

The roundhouse to the stomach was painful as hell and totally not beautiful in the least, but it was absolutely worth it if only for the sheer rage decorating the dragon's face. Dazai stumbled back, clutching his stomach and laughing weakly despite the pain. He forced himself to stand straight and ignore the pain. The last thing Dazai would want to do was let the other think he had the advantage. The dragon watched him from a few feet away, eyes still narrowed in anger.

"You done yet? Or do you need me to take off an arm to really prove a point?" The dragon paused before speaking again, snarl still prominent in his voice. "And the name is Chuuya. Nakahara Chuuya. Now that you know that, you can stop with the 'Mr. Dragon' bullshit. It's fucking weird to hear a grown man saying shit like that."

Dazai opened his eyes wider in order to enhance the innocence in his gaze despite the fact both of them knew he was anything but innocent.

"But that would be rude, Mr. Dragon, and I would absolutely hate to be anything but polite to you.."

The withering look Chuuya sent him was enough to cause another snicker fest to erupt from Dazai. Now that Chuuya seemed to have calmed down to a state of irritation, Dazai took the chance to properly assess Chuuya.

Nakahara Chuuya was definitely interesting in terms of appearance. With wild, red hair that tumbled down and around the other's face and finally ended at his shoulders and bright, blue eyes with pupils resemblant of a cat, Chuuya was definitely a sight to behold. Even if Chuuya didn't have several stray bright red scales that were scattered across the other's body as well as the long, thick tail trailing behind him, Dazai is sure Chuuya couldn't pass through a crowd without people stopping and staring at him in complete awe. Chuuya was undeniably pretty.

"So how come you're so ugly, Mr. Dragon? Too much stress causing your hair to fray?"

As if Dazai could ever let the other even have an inkling that he thought Chuuya was good looking in any shape or fashion.

That just wouldn't be nearly as fun.

Chuuya rolled his eyes as his tail swayed from side to side behind him, brushing off the comment. It wasn't like Chuuya really gave a shit about how he looked. He just wanted to know why the fuck the other had decided to come to a dragon's lair, forcibly awake said dragon, and then proceed to mock a fucking dragon for his height.

"Why exactly are you here anyways?" Before Dazai had a chance to go past opening his mouth, Chuuya held a hand up to stop him. "And I swear to God if you make another short joke, I'm going to burn you alive. Slowly."

Dazai's eyebrows raised slightly.

"Oh my. How kinky." Dazai continued, completely ignoring the other's sputtering denial. "You see, our dearest Prince Atsushi has recently gone missing, and several sources say that they happened to see a certain red dragon pluck him off the ground and fly away with him." Dazai paused to tilt his head to the side and raise a finger to his mouth. "I wonder if we have anyone like that around here…"

How on Earth Chuuya managed to mix anger and confusion into one facial expression, Dazai had no idea. To be fair, the other probably looked like that on a daily basis, so it probably wasn't that hard for him to figure out.

"I don't know what the fuck you're trying to imply here, but I didn't touch your precious prince. Besides, I don't kidnap people." Chuuya's snarl morphed into a demonic smile as a small fireball appeared in his hand. "I fucking burn them alive for even looking at me."

Dazai nodded and hummed before lifting three fingers up.

"I'll make you a bet, Mr. Dragon. One," His middle finger curled up. "You won't kill me." Dazai ignored the bark of laughter that erupted from Chuuya and continued speaking, curling his index finger down into his palm as well. "Two, you'll tell me exactly where Prince Atsushi is. And three" The final finger curled joined the others, forming a fist. "You'll let me ride you."

Chuuya sneered at Dazai.

"As if I'd ever let you anywhere close enough to me to even touch my wings. What makes you so sure I won't kill you anyways? In fact,"

A gust of air blew past Dazai, causing his hair to follow after it. A fairly delicate reaction despite the fact there was a hand with very sharp nails right next to his face. A faint stinging sensation made itself known on Dazai's cheek, and he could already feel the blood beginning to bubble out of the wound and trickle down his face. Chuuya leaned upwards as the grin on his lips grew.

"I could easily kill you right now."

Dazai nodded with a sage-like expression on his face.

"You could. If you could actually reach me."

Chuuya snarled loudly and that was all the warning Dazai had before another fist flew towards him, this time towards his stomach again. Dazai dodged back lightly and landed on the balls of his feet only to have to jerk to the left in order to avoid the oncoming kick. They carried on like for a few minutes. When one would move in to land a blow, the other would dodge out. Of course, it was only a matter of time until they began slowing down and getting sloppier.

An arm struck out against Dazai's head, causing a shrill ringing to reverberate in his skull. He winced and quickly threw a punch out, only to have his arm be grabbed by Chuuya. Chuuya yanked Dazai downwards into his other awaiting fist, causing another round of fireworks to erupt in Dazai's skull. Before Chuuya had a chance to pull his fist away, Dazai launched forward and caught Chuuya's hand in his teeth, biting down harshly into Chuuya's pale skin. Chuuya hissed and released his grip on Dazai's other arm. He flexed his hand and a small fireball appeared. Dazai's lips curled up into a smile even as he stayed latched to Chuuya's now bleeding fist as he kept his focus on the small orb of fire burning hotly in the other's palm.

Chuuya's eyes narrowed in suspicion at Dazai's reaction but ignored it in favor of intensifying the flames in his palm. The weirdo was probably just happy he managed to force Chuuya into actually using his magic. Chuuya turned his hand so that the fireball was facing upward as he jabbed up in order to hit Dazai's stomach. Chuuya could feel the endorphins in his blood intensify as his hand drew closer to its intended target, practically already smelling the burnt flesh that would soon erupt from the attack. However, seconds before the flames made contact, the fireball disappeared and caused Chuuya to falter enough that Dazai unlatched his teeth and repaid Chuuya's earlier punch to the face. Chuuya stumbled back as Dazai breathed heavily and wiped away some of Chuuya's blood that was already beginning to thicken and turn crusty on Dazai's mouth. Chuuya paused to stare at his hand in confusion, hand flexing and creating another fireball. When it stayed lit, Chuuya turned to the other with an accusing stare.

"What the fuck did you do?"

Dazai shrugged nonchalantly and tried to ignore the brief onset of pain the action caused.

"I dabble in magic when I'm not finding the most beautiful way to commit suicide or find out wherever Prince Atsushi was whisked away to this time."

They both watched each other as they breathed heavily in an attempt to regain some semblance of energy in case the other decided to start another attack. When Chuuya seemed to have no intention of attacking again within the next few minutes, Dazai spoke.

"Now back to the fact you can't kill me. Aside from the part that none of your magic will work on me, I also came prepared. You see, if I'm not back within the next two days, then I've notified several of my fellow knights to come up here with all of the potions I have." Dazai paused and tapped his lip in thought for a moment as though calculating something before his eyes darted back to meet Chuuya. "Let's see, I believe my last check left me with about 126 Ice potions, 142 Weakening potions, and at least 584 other potions that could be used against a dragon."

Dazai shrugged nonchalantly as if it wasn't his life he was betting on by continuing. "Of course, you could call my bluff and wait a few days to see if anything really does come of it."

Chuuya snorted.

"As if you could have that many potions just laying around your domain. Unless…" Chuuya's eyes narrowed in thought before widening as he double took Dazai.

"Fuck. You came for Prince Atsushi and have a weirdly strong affiliation with magic for a human. Don't tell me you're Dazai Osamu."

Dazai bowed deeply before coming back up and smiling at Chuuya, teeth showing far too much to be described as a simple grin.

"In the flesh."

Chuuya seemed to deflate slightly as his eye twitched. He gnashed his teeth together and stared at Dazai as though weighing the chances of the other coming through on his threat. Something in Dazai's expression must have tipped him off that every word that had passed through Dazai's lips were true, because Chuuya sighed and ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.

"Fucking hell. Of course I get one of the most powerful magicians in the entire fucking region on my fucking front doorstep when I just wanted to fucking sleep."

Chuuya huffed and crossed his arms, bitterly waiting on Dazai to continue. Dazai snickered again, obviously pleased with Chuuya's reaction. Brown eyes twinkled in amusement as Dazai spoke again.

"Now. Have you seen our beloved Prince anywhere nearby?"

Chuuya grunted and jerked his head to right towards the nearby ruins.

"Pretty sure I saw that maniac dog Akutagawa dragging a white haired boy towards there while I was hunting earlier. Considering there's only so many white haired boys with that amount of jewelry on their person out here, I'm willing to bet that's where he went." Chuuya turned back to face Dazai with a raised eyebrow. "Anything else?"

Dazai hummed as he added the information in with the other bits and pieces he had collected from talking to people. He clapped his hands together and smiled at Chuuya.

"Thank you so much! That only confirms my earlier hunch that our dear stray dog decided to be this week's kidnapper!"

Chuuya nodded along until he realized what exactly Dazai had said. His fists clenched instinctively as he bit down harshly. He was hardly able to speak through his gritted teeth but forcing words out had become second nature to the redhead.

"What do you mean 'confirms my earlier hunch', you fucker?! Are you telling me that you knew all along that I didn't have him?!"

Dazai looked at him in shock which morphed into a look of innocence.

"Why, of course! Even an idiot could deduce that much!" Dazai slowed his words down and pronounced them carefully and clearly as though speaking to a small child. "Captors don't often sleep so peacefully when they know someone is going to come eventually to save the person they kidnapped."

Chuuya's arms trembled as he tried to resist the urge to fucking deck Dazai in the face. He breathed deeply in order to at least try and calm himself some. Chuuya let out a ragged breath and rubbed at his temples. A minute passed with Dazai still smiling at Chuuya. Chuuya raised an eyebrow at the other.

"The fuck do you want now?"

"You forgot the third part of the bet."

Chuuya blinked and hissed at the realization. Of course. Chuuya rolled his eyes and stretched out an arm, mentally preparing himself for the transformation into his full dragon form. His nails lengthened and sharpened as scales began to appear on his hands, starting at his fingertips and crawling their way up his arms. Before the scales could even reach his shoulder, a hand latched onto his arm, causing him to break concentration and stop the transformation. Shivers ran down Chuuya's spine every time a warm breath ghosted over the skin on Chuuya's face. Chuuya looked up at the other, startled to find Dazai at face level.

"Ah, Chuuya, it seems like you misunderstood me. You see, I actually meant a different kind of ride."

A bright blush bloomed across Chuuya's face that was so vibrant and red that it almost matched the scales scattered across Chuuya's face as realization finally hit him. He stuttered as the other dragged him towards the cave entrance.

"B-But what about your prince?!"

Ahead of him, Dazai snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Please, I'm sure those two are having the same sort of fun now. So let's let children be children, so we can be adults, okay?"

It wasn't until they were fully immersed in the cave did Chuuya realize the other had finally used his name.


End file.
